Bakura for his part was leaning against the wall with his eyes shut. He had been meditating and tuning the world out. It'd been a long time since he'd had that hard of a workout. But he was determined to reclaim the position given to him. Someone nudged him. He blinked and looked where the guy pointed. "What?"

"We were just talking about how it's Ryo's fault we all have to fight for our jobs back. I'm guessing he thinks you'll support him. We still believe if he had just played nice and stayed with Master Mokuba until spring then we wouldn't be in this mess."

"Tell them!" Ryo said.

"Tell them what exactly?" Bakura demanded.

"Tell them it's not true!"

"The king and Master Atemu both offered to give you knighthood and stay as Master Mokuba's guard. But no, you felt like you had to prove yourself. Well I guess you're getting your wish! Honestly you should have gone back to that school of yours and stayed there for a year or two and graduated. Then you would have easily earned your spot. Now you don't stand a chance."

Everyone was a bit surprised at the anger in his voice and words. Then angered themselves when they realized that he had been handed the position of knight while still being with Mokuba and turned it down. Because of that they were all threatened to lose everything they worked hard for.

"I...I had high marks in everything. I thought I was ready. I didn't know that befriending Mokuba would lead to all this."

"True, but I said it once I'll say it again. Your mistake was either leaving without him when you left or running farther away where it wouldn't be so easy to find you. One kingdom over really? But by far the biggest mistake was after returning you practically abandoned Master Mokuba. I think you subconsciously blame him for being forced to leave that kingdom."

The others, not knowing why Ryo had returned, were curious.

"So, why did he return?"

Bakura explained everything he knew from the killer to Ryo being accused of kidnapping and returning here.

That just caused everyone who was on the fence about whether Ryo was to blame to hate him. Joey wanted to side with his friend but didn't want to be bullied by the others so he kept quiet. He had known about Ryo's being offered knighthood and staying Mokuba's guard. He understood Ryo's reasons for running away with Mokuba but now knowing why he returned he disagreed with why. Still he hated knowing his friend was being bullied. However he had to think about Serenity. Thanks to Yugi she had her sight back. He wanted to send money to her so she can travel or go to college or whatever. He knew that the odds were against him becoming a knight. At least this year. Still being a guard afforded him enough money to live off of and send to her. He couldn't afford to get on the bad side of the others if he wanted a peaceful time.

The next day before the jousting competition the young man that bested Bakura in most categories and top contender for head Knight walked up to the podium. "Master Atemu, might I have a word?"

"Of course, and you are?"

"My name is Starr Fox."

"What can I do for you?"

"I heard that you were in need of a personal guard. I had briefly considered coming to you earlier about it. But I decided it would be best to prove myself worthy first. I figured if I could place high enough that it would prove my worth."

Yami was stunned. He never expected that. "Excuse me for a moment." He went up to where Seto sat away from the judges so no one could say he influenced them. "Seto, this guy just said he only competed to prove he's worthy of being my personal guard."

Seto shrugged, "Well if he's that good what's the problem? Either accept him or reject him. He'll be your guard. You decide." Seto didn't understand why Yami was bugging him about it. He was the one who needed a new guard, not him…yet.

Mokuba looked over and wondered what Yami was asking Seto as he didn't look pleased. Seto had been making notes. He said he wouldn't judge. He wanted the selection process to be as unbiased as possible. He didn't say he wouldn't be involved in the final rankings based only on anonymous scores. Each person was simply assigned a number. So only seeing the numbers he could base his rankings on that. For his part Mokuba was excited. It was so much fun watching them compete.

Yami went back down and asked, "We haven't made it publicly known. It was only a few days ago we made the change."

"I dabble in magic. So let's just say it's in the grapevine."

"I see. I wanted to see others but you have done well. I can't just offer you the position without talking to you, more first."

Starr smiled and bowed, "Of course sir. I completely understand."

"If you would like, we are about to break for lunch. We can do it then."

"Yes, sir. Thank you sir." He had anticipated this. He knew from trying to get positions like this at other kingdoms that there would be an interview process. But most began and ended here. With questions of where he's from and more before being rejected. He hoped this didn't end the same.

"When am I going to get a guard?" Maura asked.

"As soon as I can. I'm just not sure when. For now you'll just have to share Varon."

"What if Mahaado wants to assign me one?"

"Would you feel safe or comfortable around one of his people?" Not really liking the idea of one of his men there for a number of reasons.

"No, I'd be scared that instead of guarding me he'd take me somewhere Mahaado's waiting to marry me off or something."

'It's the or something I'd be more worried about.'

"Then no. Even if he offers, we'll decline."

Everyone was gossiping and whispering seeing this new guy talking to Yami. They wondered if Yami was offering him the head knight position. They were mad as it wasn't fair to Bakura or to any others wanting to try their luck. What did he do to automatically win? He was an outsider.

At lunch Fox went looking and found Yami waiting for him by a couple of chairs. "Please have a seat. What was your name again?"

"Starr Fox."

"Please sit. So tell me your story. Why do you want to be my guard?"

"Thank you for giving me a chance. I have always dreamed of doing something. At first it was a knight. But too much competition and backstabbing for my liking. Then I learned of personal guards and knew that was my goal. I've tried many other kingdoms. I'd hoped to win but despite beating even their best men I was often rejected due to claims of cheating with magic or just because I was an outsider and had no kingdom of my own. I basically had to raise myself as my parents wanted to be free spirit's. Hence my strange name. I started dabbling in magic when we stayed for a while in a kingdom that was full of magic. I had to learn about how a kingdom operated from pages to squires to guard and kings all through books. My parents tried to discourage my reading. I only learned to read thanks to a kind woman I met in a town we were living in while my mother had my twin siblings. Moon Fox and Sun Fox." As if reading Yami's expression. "I said they wanted to be free spirit's. Anyway, I had to beg my parents to tell me what kingdom I was born in. Unlike them I want to lay down roots. Being rejected from more than one kingdom because I didn't belong hurt. They swear I was born here but I have no evidence of that. But, I swear on my life. that I never used magic to cheat. I want this job on my own skill."

Yami nodded, "I admit you impressed me. But…"

'Great here comes the rejection. I have only ever gotten this far once before.'

"But I'd like it if you wouldn't mind after dinner on the last day of the tournament to do the obstacle course again but against my current guard?"

"Wait, if you have one already why do you need a second?" Both shocked he was being offered a real chance and surprised that Yami already had a guard.

"It's a long story. But basically the late king gave away his youngest son not long after the birth and death of the queen. After he died the current king started searching for his brother for years. He found him several months ago. We needed a guard for him. My guard is extremely attached to him and the boy trusts him after all the abuse he suffered. So he's doing double duty right now."

"I see. I'd be honored to compete. But might I ask why? If you want to reassign him to the young prince."

"I hired him for his skills. If you can best him or at the very least keep up with him you've got the job."

"Thank you for the opportunity. But does it not bother you that I don't know the kingdom that I was born from? It just seemed extremely important for every other kingdom."

"If hired, will you swear a sacred oath under penalty of death that you will be loyal and faithful not just to me but everyone in this kingdom?"

Starr immediately stood up and stood at attention and said "Yes, I would take a blood oath if necessary. I won't let you down."

"That's all that matters." Truth was Yami could honestly care less about what kingdom you originally hailed from. As long as you are faithful to him and this country. That's all that matters. "You're dismissed. I shall leave it to you if you wish to continue to compete."

"I will, just to continue to prove my worth." Star said before bowing and leaving.